Re: Intellectual property

Lee Daniel Crocker (lcrocker@calweb.com)
Fri, 21 Mar 1997 20:57:09 -0800 (PST)


> Its odd that you and I can agree here but have different views on
> intellectual property. What I am proposing is that intellectual property
> be fully recognized as a basic human right (part of the natural law
> thing), possibly THE basic human right, and that patents, copyrights,
> trademarks etc are merely government recognition of individuals
> exercising these rights in acts of creation.

You are asking far more than that; you are asking not only that I
recognize your right to use your creation, but that I further give
you the power to use force to prevent anyone else from using it, even
if it was independently created, or given freely. You don't want a
right to use your mind; you want permission to use your fists to
prevent me from using /my/ mind.

"Property" is a human right by virtue of the objective nature of it:
that a piece of property cannot simultaneously serve the ends of two
different people. If you want to expand that to include things that
/can/ simultaneously be used by everyone, then give me a /reason/, not
just your feeling that it is "natural".

-- 
Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com>
<http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html>